FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What does a Master's in Fine Arts entail?
Master of Fine Arts is a University accredited degree that is obtain through a graduate program. To obtain the MFA the student must first have a BFA or equivalent then apply with a very strong photographic portfolio and hope to be chosen by the committee. Only a handful of students that apply will actually be invited to study and receive a fellowship to teach at the university. The MFA is a key element in the fine art world. A Master of Fine Arts degree takes at least 8 years of college to obtain plus a very intensive portfolio qualification, along with a thesis about the art. (The MFA is not to be confused with a Master's from the PPA which is a "merit-based" degree awarded for volunteering and print competition points).

What does PPA mean?
Professional Photographers of America is the world's largest nonprofit association for professional photographers, with more than 20,000 members in 54 countries. PPA's mission is to be the leader in the dissemination of knowledge in the areas of professional business practices and creative image-making, and to define and maintain the industry's standards of excellence.

What does CCP mean?
The certification program conducted by the PPA assures the general public that you, as a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP), are a quality professional. More importantly, it provides you with a tool for telling the world and all those potential clients why they should call you rather than the competitor down the street. Less than 8% off all photographers in the world hold the CPP. Clients can trust that CPP photographers hold extremely high standards and care enough about photography to use only professional labs and the highest quality of materials available.

How long have you been a professional photographer?
Jeff began working professionally in 1996, however his interest in photography actually began when he was 9 years old. "It has been my life long dream to make a living with photography. I still own many of the cameras I had when I was very young, you should see some of the images I made back then." -Jeff
Sabrina began working in photography in 1995 and has never put down the camera since then. "Photography provided me with a tool to see the world. When I carefully frame an image I make several choices in composition, and exposure, and I have creative freedom to manipulate the image all the way through post-production. A camera is my tool to express my personal vision to the world when words don't suffice. Images break language barriers, and many times cultural barriers as well." -Sabrina

Why are you a photographer? What do you love about photography?
Photography for us is a true art form, that allows us to create an emotional documentation of who the subject is. We feel the dialog that develops through a portrait session creates the image, we prefer to photograph in a style similar to Richard Avedon. In a more technical aspect, we love photography because we are able to sculpt with light, thus creating moods, settings and situations that are expressive and artistic.

Do you work with any charities with your photography?
Yes, we consistently work with Children Home Society, March of Dimes, Operation Smile and the Alachua County Animal Hospital.

Do you do videos as well?
We do not make videos other than our own personal home videos or for our website.

Do we have time to change clothing during a shoot?
We believe you need time to settle from a busy day, change clothing, and just get comfortable being photographed. Plus we like to take our time to get to know you, an important step towards capturing your personality through imagery.

How many weddings do you photograph a year and how much notice do you need?
We only photograph 35 weddings per year, we used to not limit ourselves, however it just became impossible to get 70 wedding albums produced in time and still provide a high quality product. Now we have a first come first serve booking schedule, We do not always book certain dates far in advance so it never hurts to call and check our schedule even if your wedding is next week or next year.

Do you edit the photos yourself?/Can you whiten my teeth?/Get rid of my scar?
We do all editing in house, anything is possible with the software we use, just tell us what you want done to your images.

Do you create albums?
We create custom wedding albums that are free form designed by our in house graphic designer along with us. No two wedding albums look alike coming from our studio.

My friend had photographs made by you and I want you to do something for our family but I want it to be different than my friends, how can you accommodate that?
We understand that each client we deal with has particulars that are important to them. We do not want to just create the same portrait over and over again. We are inspired by each individual and we utilize various tools that enable us to create images truly unique to each client. A short portrait consultation will help us design your portrait session.

Where is your BLOG?
Blogs are very time-consuming. It would be unfair to post some sessions and not others, therefore we would have an insane number of posts each week and we are just not ready to have a full time employee dedicated to blogging. We also don't like to prescribe to the theory that just because someone else is doing it means we need to do it. We are more than happy blogless and hope to continue to find ways to keep our business simplified to better serve our clients, as well as have quality time with our family. When lack of a blog forces us down in the search engine rankings we will then get one.